July 28, 2006

A quick addition to the previous post: If you want to join the tester list, write to me at recipetesters@yahoo.com . However, please first read the previous post for more details. Thanks!

Also, some other exciting news: Ten Speed Press has decided to re-issue Crust & Crumb, my first James Beard Award-winning book, in a softcover edition. This means the price has come down and, hopefully, it will find a new audience among those who do not yet have it. I get e-mails even now, ten years after its original publication, from people who say they love it even more than The Bread Baker's Apprentice (the BBA, as it is known in cyber world). It does cover similar artisan methodology as the BBA, but there are many formulas in C&C that are not in the BBA. Together, the two books form a sort of complete artisan bread collection. The lower price ($18.95 cover price, as opposed to $29.95 for the hard cover edition) also makes it a nice gift option. Thank you Ten Speed Press for this new edition! As someone who buys a lot of bread books, I'm always happy when the price comes down!

I have been receiving requests from new folks wanting to join the testing process. I've been waiting till we reached a natural transition point and we're very close to that now. The text of the whole grains bread book is nearing completetion, though the testing will continue right up to printing day. I've tried to incorporate as many tester suggestions as possible in the instructions to simplify the process, so the next round will actually benefit from both new and veteran testers to see if our changes have worked. I will also be sending out a variety of new, never before seen recipes, but to smaller groups. That is, not everyone will get every recipe or even the same recipe, but everyone will get recipes to test. This way, we can re-test every recipe in the book and continue tweaking them. Many follow the same basic method, with different ingredient combinations, while others are totally different. I also have some gluten-free recipes that will need testing, more "Old World" dense breads with our simplified mash, and even some cracker and flat bread recipes. I also have revised the wild yeast starter technique to create a mother starter at the correct hydration level. Veteran testers, please do not discard your already existing starters. You can continue to use them and, if you want to, can try the new method as well. Only when you have a new, healthy starter should you consider replacing your original (or keep them both). My goal is to not overload you with lots of starters--a small amount of "mother starter" is all you will need to keep, from which you can build it up as needed, when needed.

All of these improvements are a direct result of the great feed back I've received from so many of you.

So, if you are not on the testers list, please write in from the e-address to which you want me to send the test recipes, and I will add you to the address list. If you are already on the list, don't worry, I will send you more recipes to test soon and, probably, a revised questionairre, again thanks to some your suggestions. I will not be sending any recipes out, however, for the next few weeks. I have to first finish the text so I can send it to the publisher by September 1st. So, don't worry if you don't hear from me till the end of August. We have a lot of testing still to do.

For those wishing to come off the tester list, only write if you have not participated at all. I want to be sure to acknowledge all who have tested, even if it was just once, so I will continue to send you recipes and you can ignore them if you don't want to test them; this way you can still re-enter the process and will still be listed in the book.

After I send you a new recipe to test, feel free to write back after you've tested it and request a particular bread, such as gluten-free or "Old World, multi-grain, cracker, etc. for your next round. That way, if the first one is not too interesting, at least you'll get to do some that you really want. I will try to send out a list of all the recipes once we enter this next round, so you can request a particular one to test. There will be over 50. This leaves about 1,000 recipes that will not be in the book--there are just so many wonderful breads that I hated leaving them out, but these 50 will represent pretty much every category and can be modified to match a bread that has been left out. Many breads, as I read up on them and their history, are so similar to others that the major difference is the name, shape, or place of origin, not the ingredients. A few raisins here or there, an almond instead of a walnut, buckwheat instead of rye--they're are an infinite number of variations, just as there are in beer making, where a few degrees difference, or a few ounces difference or type of hops, can create an entirely different, even weird flavor. Thank goodness bread gives us a little more wiggle room than beer--subtle differences can be masked by flour much easier than they can by liquid wort. But that's a whole other kettle of mash....(Forgive this beer talk; I had a great tour of our local micro-brewery, Rock Bottom, two weeks ago and my head is still spinning--not from the beer, of which I was a conservative but happy sipper, but from all the attention to detail and science I learned. The wonderful analogy that beer is liquid bread has been helpful as I explored some of the theories behind the dough method in this book. As we get close to deadline, I'm getting more and more excited. Thank you, again, testers and non-tester blog readers. It's been an amazing journey....

July 15, 2006

I have been receiving e-mails from readers of the "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" (the BBA for short) about a problem that our recipe testers have already faced--sourdough (i.e., wild yeast) starters that bubble away early and then go dormant. I have addressed this in American Pie and will do so with more detail in the upcoming whole grains book, but this is for those new folks who are writing to me, so I can refer them to this site for a quick explanation and solution.

Through the work of a diligent group of home bakers at the King Arthur Baking Circle (www.kingarthurflour.com), led by one of our current testers, Debbie Wink, it was discovered that a strain of bacteria called leuconostoc exists in a lot of flour (moreso now, it seems than a few years ago). This bacteria masquerades as yeast in the early stage of a seed culture starter, in that it generates a lot of carbon dioxide making it appear that the wid yeast cells are growing rapidly. However, the wild yeast really needs a more acidic environment than exists during the first few days of the starter's existence and, unfortunately, the leuconostoc interferes with yeast growth during this grand masquerade. At a certain point, as the bacteria causes the dough to become more acidic, the acid actually de-activates the leuconostoc (it actually contributes to its own demise), but the wild yeast have not had a chance to propogate and grow in numbers, so there is a domancy period in which nothing seems to be happening. Many folks have assumed they killed their starter when it did not seem to respond to a Day 3 or Day 4 feeding, and threw it out. Others waited and saw mold form on the top of the starter and, of course, they too threw it out. That's about the time I start getting their e-mails. So here are two solutions to the problem:

First, if you are starting from scratch, use canned pineapple juice instead of water during the first two days of feeding. The acid in the juice is just at the right ph level to acidify the dough to the yeast's liking but not to the leuconostoc. The starter should then work as written. You should then switch to back to water from Day Three onward, and slowly the pineapple juice will dilute out as you feed and refresh your starter over time.

Second, and this is a big breakthrough I think, you should stir your seed culture starter two or three times a day, for about one minute each time, to aerate it. Yeast loves oxygen and multiplies faster when you stimulate the mixture with air. In addition, the stirring evens out the hydration of the dough and exposes any surface organisms that may have drifted onto the starter to the acidic environment within, and thus deactivates them while the yeast and the good lactobacillus organisms continue to grow. I've lost count of how many people solved their starter problem simply by this aeration technique. Once your starter is fully established it will be healthy enough to not need this added process, but it would be wise, I think, to continue the aeration throughout the seed culture phase.

If you are already into the process of beginning a seed culture but did not know about the "pineapple juice solution," fret not. Just begin the frequent aeration and see what happens. Most likely, your starter will come to life and when it does, it will probably stay on the schedule as written in the book.

July 11, 2006

It's nearly mid July and the days are flying by, the book deadline is zooming closer and closer, yet it seems like everything is, somehow, coming together. The latest round of recipe respones has been very encouraging and I'm now incorporating the best of recipe the testers' suggestions into the instructions.

The purpose of this post is to remind you that when you create steam in the oven, whether with a mister or by pouring water into a hot steam pan, remember to cover you oven window (if you have one) with a towel. "Splash-back," usually caused by water droplets popping out of the pan like jumping beans, or by water dripping from your pourer, can crack the glass if it it hits it. Kind of like that sickening windshield effect when a pebble hits it on the highway and a little spider vein appears and then creeps throughout the whole window. I'd hate for that to happen to anyone, and unfortunately, one of our stalwart testers, Paul in Canada, just had it happen to his oven. Ouch!!! So, please, protect your oven and your hands (I always wear an oven mitt when I pour, in addition to the towel on the window).

Incidentally, I've been using a plastic watering can with a long, small spout. Works pretty good. One of our testers told me she uses a long piece of aluminum foil, formed into a V-shaped trough, that she can direct deep into the oven and through which she can pour water, like a down spout, into the steam pan. Ingenuity! That's what I love about this process, hearing about your tricks and tips.

Gotta get back to the manuscript--I hear that clock ticking and it's getting scary....

May your bread always rise!

Peter

PS Testers, another round of recipes coming in a few days, probably this weekend.